Wolfpack
by The Poorest Waltz
Summary: Orphan, hotshot, an all around laid back person. All ways to describe Katsuo, the leader of Wolfpack Squadron and close friend to Jack Bartlett. Follow him as he and his squadron follow Wardog to hell and back throughout the Circum-Pacific War.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey! Katsuo!" Captain Bartlett called across the hanger as he broke into a sprint accompanied by the clinking of beer bottles.

The younger captain raised his head to the side, exposing a lit cigarette and a smirk on his face. "One of those are for me, eh Jack?" He said as he raised his hand.

"Catch." Jack said, tossing ond of the bottles to his friend. "You know we're stuck training nuggets tomorrow morning, right?"

Katsuo cracked the bottle open and brought it to his lips, taking a long swig before finally nodding "Yeah I heard. You know, my sister will be one of em."

Barlett raised an eyebrow "That kid you always keep in that locket around your neck? Isn't she a bit young to follow in her old brothers footsteps?" His voice still as joking as ever, he already knew the answer that was coming next.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Im old...but you know how important she is to me, I've taken care of her since our parents died, she's all I have...I'd never forgive myself if she got hurt up there." Katsuo's voice grew serious as he let the cigarette fall from his lips.

Bartlett put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We'll be her instructors, she'll be fine." his voice more sincere, but a grin still on his face. "We'd better get ready for tomorrow, I'll see you at briefing tomorrow."

"Yeah Jack, sure thing." Katsuo stood up, heading to his room just as the sun started to dip below the horizon.

Looking in the mirror as he dressed for bed, he sighed. His black hair was buzzed, his face was clean shaven, his uniform was clean and pressed like that of a model soldier. "Same shit, different day..." he said to himself as he looked down at the badge on his chain, "Katsuo Nagase, age 30, Wolfpack Squadron...Jesus, I AM getting old."

* * *

The next morning, Jack and one other instructor briefed the rookie pilots, the look of irritation on Jack's face was quite clear. "Everyone get to your planes! Our third instructor is already on patrol with Wolfpack. We can't let Wardog fall behind. Move it nuggets! Oh, and reporter, you're with me." He pointed to the young man who clearly looked out of place, causing a slight shake from the reporter.

Each pilot shot off a salute at their orders and rushed to the hangars, their planes starting up one by one.

"Alright nuggets, stick close to me, especially you Wardog 2, who knows what kind of trouble you'll get yourself into." Bartlett's voice barked over the comms.

"Yes sir." The quiet voice of the only female pilot in the squadron said, her voice showed no sign of fear.

"Nice of you to join us Wardog! This is Wolfpack 1. We're getting reports of a large unknown presence and my pack is hungry. What's your plan Heartbreak 1?" Katsuo's voice seemed to mirror Barlett's.

As soon as Katsuo finished speaking, a voice from the control room on the ground came over the comms "Wardog, Wolfpack, we're detecting numerous unknown aircraft at high altitude, move to intercept and engage only if necessary."

Bartlett's voice grew serious yet again "Alright nuggets, stay low and out of the fight! The instructors and I can take care of this."

Bartlett and his wingman brought their planes to altitude, forming up with Katsuo and his squadron.

"Looks like Migs Jack, think that old girlfriend of yours is coming back to nab you?" Katsuo jokes before a loud beeping indicating he's being tracked interrupts him. "Tally ho boys, get around these bastards and take em down," the young captain barked, laughing as he took his plane down towards the ground, diving on the enemy planes.

Bartlett and the rest of the pilots followed Katsuo. "Wardog, this is Hearbreak 1! Control got it wrong, you're heading right for the enemy. Take evasive action!"

Just before the instructors made it to their recruits, fireballs began erupting below them, the inexperienced pilots were getting picked off one by one, their cries for help were cut off by screams and static.

"Jack, let's show em our bite is as bad as our bark. On me!" Katsuo said as he rolled his plane into the fray. Within minutes, numerous hostile aircraft were destroyed, but the recruits had fared much worse.

"Did any of em get out?" A slightly disheartened Bartlett asked over comms, fearing the worst.

"We've got one recruit being tailed by a Mig, I'll be damned if another kid dies on my watch!" Katsuo shouted back, his voice full of anger and determination. He raced towards the pair, flying directly at the recruit "Kid, when I say so, I want you to pull up straight. Understood?"

"Understood sir!" The young female responded, causing Katsuo to smile a bit.

"Three...two...one...Now! Pull up now!" He shouted as his cannons began to roar.

The girl in Wardog 2 pulled up hard, rolling back over the Mig, which was now engulfed in flames.

"Nice flying Wardog 2...and if you ever cause your big brother to worry like that again, enemy fire will be the least of your worries." He said with a laugh "Let's get back to the airfield Jack, I'm sure command will want our heads on a platter for their incompetence."

* * *

On the ground, Katsuo ran to his sisters plane and pulled her into a hug "Almost as good as your big brother," He laughs "but don't ever do something that risky again."

Kei smiled, returning the hug "it's been too long Katsuo..." Her voice trailed off as Bartlett approached from behind.

"I hate to interrupt the reunion Katsuo, but I just got word, we're to have our asses chewed out by command...guess we shouldn't keep them waiting," Bartlett said with a sigh, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder "come on."

Katsuo pulled away and shot his sister a smile "Come find my pups and I in the hangar later this evening. I'll introduce you to everyone." He said before turning on his heel and following Bartlett inside, ready for yet another reprimanding...


	2. Chapter 2

Loud rock music echoed through the hangar as Katsuo laughed and joked with his squadmates and the recruits who were lucky enough to be on the ground that day, a lit cigarette in his hand as usual.

"Hey man, you've got good taste!" the loud mouthed Alvin Davenport exclaimed, causing a smirk to cross Katsuo's face.

The captain looked over the faces, picking out his squadron. There was the always loyal Erich Reinhardt, callsign Omega, a Belkan who's family immigrated to Osea before the outbreak of the last war. Then there was Patrick Hudson, callsign Blitz, a foul mouthed patriot through and through who had family in the Osean government. Finally, he locked eyes with his wingman, Alesia White, callsign Storm. The girl was as fierce as she was beautiful and from early on, she and Katsuo hit it off leading to more than one interaction that could've easily cost them their wings.

Next, he looked over the nuggets. The loud mouthed and opinionated Alvin "Chopper" Davenport who shared Katsuo's love of rock music. His sister, who while quiet and seemingly shy at times, would show her true self in the heat of battle. She was the calm to Katsuo's fiery personality and would often keep her brother from getting into too much trouble. Lastly there was the brown haired pilot who didn't seem to talk more than he needed to. He respecfully asked to be called by his callsign, Blaze. They all showed great promise in their own way.

"Captain," Erich's voice interrupted Katsuo's train of thought "Why don't you tell us about your life before the military? You've always been a bit tight lipped about it but..."

Katsuo's lighthearted demeanor faded when he looked to his sister, as if to ask for her permission to tell them their story.

"Go ahead," she said softly "they have every right to know."

Katsuo cleared his throat and turned the music down a bit, preparing for a long monologue. "Very well then. I was the black sheep in my family. I differed from my parents on many topics, politics, cultural issues, career choice, you name it. I listened to rock, I had run ins with the law due to near extreme political views. We fought back and forth quite a lot...I was an angsty teenager to put it simply," he took a pause to discard his cigarette and put a hand on his sister's shoulder "but I always looked out for this curious little girl who could never manage to stay out of my room." He joked, causing the entire crowd to laugh or smile, "...then came the fire. On an unusually warm day in December, I was half assing my school work when I began to smell smoke and ran out of my room, searching for Kei."

The smiles and laughs had faded from the crowd, who all began to predict what came next. "Sir...I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories..." Erich said, the mood of the conversation weighing heavily on him.

"It's okay Erich, about time I told you guys anyway," Katsuo sighed "Once I found her, I grabbed her and ran outside, making sure she was safe with a neighbor before I, either through bravery or stupidity, charged back in to find my parents...needless to say I couldn't find them and I suffered some ugly injuries trying," he pulled up his shirt to reveal burns and scars up his torso. "...From there we went to a few foster homes together before ending up on the streets of November City. I always took care of this one," he said, pointing to Kei "Until I found a friend that she could stay with when I enlisted. That was ten years ago."

"Don't go making me feel old now Katsuo," Bartlett's voice echoed over the music, which was promptly turned down "You were one of my earlier nuggets, and probably the only one stupid enough to stick with me this long."

Katsuo raised his middle finger with a chuckle in response "And now we old bastards are here, training these nuggets...sounds like another day in paradise. Unfortunately though, I have to run, so story time is over."

The pilots and mechanics quickly dispersed, some finding other places to hang around but most choosing to head to their rooms and get some much needed rest, not knowing the excitement the next day would bring.

* * *

Having made it to his room with little issue aside from a few recruits asking him questions, Katsuo got himself together for bed. Just as he was reaching to turn off the light, a pattern like knocking could be heard from the his door. "It's open," he said, knowing full well who it was.

"I know, I just like the secrecy of our little code." Alesia said in a half whisper as she entered the room, locking the door behind her. "So Captain, why didn't you tell us you had a little sister?" She asked him, though they both knew she was only pretending to make small talk.

A smirk grew on his face as he kept quiet, they had gone through this song and dance plenty of times before and not once had it gotten old.

"Straight to the point then. Fine." She said before shutting the lights off, pressing her lips into his as they both fell into the bed.

* * *

A/N: While I kept this chapter a bit shorter than the last one, I felt I needed to give you all a bit of background into the characters that we'll be following on this journey of ours, but didn't want to over extend the first chapter as I've never been that kind of writer. Anyway, thank you for reading and as always, I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
